Slice of Life

The Slice of Life Challenge was created by the people over at the blog Two Writing Teachers. The challenge is to write about some part of your day and share it each Tuesday.

This isn't necessarily an upbeat Slice of Life. It is a reflection of something that happened about a week and a half ago that I am still thinking about. 

I went to a children's literature event that was fantastic. See my celebrations post here for more about the fun. I fangirled about meeting authors of books that I have loved. It was also great hearing from authors that were new to me. Being in a room with so many authors and readers gave me chills. People were chattering about books, authors, and connecting with each other. A buzz of happiness and excitement filled the air. As you may suspect though, there was another perspective that I haven't shared yet. 

The event was happening near Chicago which is a tremendously diverse city. As I gazed around the room, that is not what I saw. Granted, we were in a suburb, but the room contained very few people who appeared anything other than white. I noticed it in passing, but really thought about it more deeply after I saw an author's name in the bulletin. I knew she was not white and the thought came to me, "Well, it will be easy to find her in here." Not too long after that, I noticed this message on Twitter:

I'm at a big Illinois book event. Sorry gotta just say this, it's 99% white.
— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) February 15, 2014

Yes, librarians in the midwest are probably not very culturally diverse, but there were teachers there too and we were not far from Chicago. I don't know what the answer is, but I believe it is an issue that needs to be addressed. I sent an email to the organizers because I am not sure if they are thinking about this. Being white, I only thought about it in passing when I first walked in. It only really hit me when I thought about how I might feel as a person of color walking into the room. This was an amazing event and I hope to attend again, but I also hope for some change.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

The Past Week: 

Picture Books

After meeting Jon J. Muth at Anderson's Children's Lit Breakfast, more on that here, I found myself reading more of his books when I got back to school on Monday. I found what we had and enjoyed them immensely. He gives readers so much to think about. Desmond and the Very Mean Word was another book to encourage thinking - this time about conflict and forgiveness. Infinity and Me is an intriguing look into the concept of infinity and so it gets your brain churning too. The Night the Moon Fell was a nice folktale, but it wasn't my favorite Pat Mora folktale - that honor goes to Doña Flor. 

Middle Grade

After meeting authors Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver at the Children's Lit Breakfast, I was eager to start reading about Hank Zipzer. He had me laughing. It is a great chapter book for kids who like humor. I know I will be sharing this series with a lot of students.

Young Adult

I haven't been to a book club in person for a long time. A local group was going to read The Book Thief so I grabbed a copy. I was just going to skim it since I have read it (listened to the audio) a few years ago. That didn't work. I was completely sucked in and read every word. Some more than once. Such a good book! And meeting in person with people to talk about books is so much fun. Gonna have to do that more often. Battle of the Books is just about over so I can have a lunchtime book club again soon at school. Article 5 is a dystopian book. I liked it enough, but I am not sure if I will read the next one. I didn't get very invested in the characters. The title Midwinterblood scared me because it sounds creepy and then, it won a Printz. I just wasn't sure what to expect, but I understand why it got the award. It's unique and striking. This is why I like award lists though. I never would have picked it up otherwise. Open Mic is a collection of short stories and I really enjoyed them. I will review it later this week.

The Coming Week:

I think I may actually finish The Lacuna this week. I've been listening to it for quite a few weeks. Frida Kahlo is one of the characters and she is my favorite. What an interesting woman. The others I will try to finish this week. I am also likely to start Akata Witch and Killer of Enemies. What will you be reading?

Celebrate

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on Saturdays where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every day.

One: We had Non-Fiction 10 for 10 this week. I love seeing great non-fiction titles on so many blogs.

Two: Black History Month has meant reading some fantastic books like Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table, Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl, Please Baby Please, Ruth and the Green Book and Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! We have also had some thoughtful discussion as a result.

Three: The sun has been shining. I missed the sun.

Four: Our school district had a referendum this week and it passed. Our building will be renovated and I will have walls in my teaching area! 

Five: Girl Scout cookies are in my house right now. 

Six: This week the CCBC listserv had a lively discussion with Tim Tingle about his book How I Became a Ghost. I loved hearing some of the background information and exploring the book together with others.

World Read Aloud Day Blogging Challenge

Two years ago I experienced my very first World Read Aloud Day and loved every minute of the fun. We spread it out over more than one day too. That first year we visited many classrooms and Skyped with fabulous authors from around the country. 

Last year we did it again combining it with Read Across America and stretching it out over several days so many classes could Skype with others around the country. 

Each time has been a wonderful adventure. I hope that you will be having some kind of celebration or will be reading aloud that day in some capacity. If you want to know more about the day or want to sign up to participate, visit LitWorld.

I'm a little late getting started with the blogging challenge, but here goes. The first prompt is to write about a memorable read aloud experience.

I am certain that my favorite read aloud experiences were with my mother as a young child, but I do not remember them. I know those times were why I devoured books by kindergarten though.

I do remember being read to in elementary school. I loved hearing about Ramona Quimby and the  little girl with the curl that went "boing" that was so tempting to pull. I loved that Ramona drew cat ears on her Q. Ramona definitely stuck with me. Read aloud time was the best part of school for me. It was like a vacation from the work.

I enjoy seeing students fully engaged as they melt into a story that is being read aloud. I am looking forward to experiencing read alouds with them during WRAD week. We have Skype visits arranged for many of the classes with other students around the country and with a few authors too. If there isn't a Skype visit, we will be reading with buddies. We will have e-books and hard copies available. Planning is still happening, but I am hoping that a few classes will also have guest readers come. We will also have a poem read over announcements so every person including support staff will hear something read aloud that day even if they are not in a classroom. 

World Read Aloud Day is an excellent excuse to connect with other people through the written word. Happy reading to you!

Non-Fiction 10 for 10

Cathy Mere at Reflect and Refine along with Mandy Robek at Enjoy and Embrace Learning and Julie Balen at Write at the Edge are co-hosting Non-fiction 10 for 10. I almost missed it. Thank goodness for Twitter. I am quickly - very quickly posting before leaving the house again after getting home late from work. I love it though so here goes the quick version ...

These are some of the standouts that I have read in the past year or two. I have shared many with my students and plan to keep sharing them with staff and students in the future because they have captured my imagination or heart. If you would like to know more about them, visit my #NF10for10 shelf on Goodreads. Oh, and yeah, I accidentally posted 11. Ooops. Have fun reading!

Tuesday Trailer: Spirit Animals

At the Anderson's Children's Literature Breakfast (you can read about those adventures here) I found out that Maggie Stiefvater has ventured into the world of middle grade. Yay! Here she is reading a bit of the second volume of Spirit Animals. To find out more about the series, you may visit the website that includes information about the books and the online game which looks pretty awesome.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

The Past Week: 

Picture Books

There are so many titles, I will have to let the ratings speak for the most part. I was lucky enough to attend Anderson's Children's Literature Breakfast so I heard Jon J. Muth share about making Hi, Koo! I think that added a bit to my delight in the book, but his illustrations are just so fun and beautiful and the haiku and art complement each other very well. That was a stand-out for me. Almost to Freedom touched my heart and I loved learning about the history of We Shall Overcome (oops that should be down in my non-fiction section). The Tortoise and the Hare had fabulous illustrations that were much like those in the Lion and the Mouse. The Negro Speaks of Rivers was breath-taking. There were a lot of great picture books in my hands this week.

Non-Fiction

Both of these books were very engaging and provided tons of great information. I shared Farmer Will Allen with my first grade students and it was just the right amount of text for them. Any more and it wouldn't have worked as well. He is quite and interesting man with a great project of bringing healthy food to urban areas. Josephine was another intriguing person. She had a passion for dance and she followed her strength. The book communicated her energy and fire.

Middle-Grade/Young Adult

I enjoyed Romeo and Juliet and reviewed it over on Rich in Color. I finished an ARC of Saving Baby Doe, but I am still ruminating so haven't rated it yet. I'll be writing a review sometime this week here on the blog.

The Coming Week: 

I am still listening to The Lacuna on a Playaway. I am listening to Article 5 on CDs in my car. I only have 3 CDs left so should finish soon. The other one is for school. I also started the first Hank Zipzer book after meeting Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver this past weekend (see my Celebrations post). I will likely read some other books that I bought at the Children's Literature Breakfast also. Have a great week!